Taliban’s ‘golden chicken’ hostage Bowe Bergdahl was loathed by his fellow soldiers, Serial reveals

TO THE Taliban, prisoner Bowe Bergdahl was a “golden chicken”. To Bowe’s fellow US soldiers, he was someone to be loathed.

08/12/2010 WIRE: This still image provided on December 7, 2010 by IntelCenter shows the Taliban associated video production g...

BOWE Bergdahl may have been the Taliban’s “golden” prisoner — but as the search effort for him dragged on under dangerous and gruelling conditions, fellow US soldiers decided they’d kill him if they found him.

Bergdahl’s former comrades have told US podcast series Serial they were left boiling with anger after the accused Army deserter walked off their Afghanistan base on a rogue Jason Bourne-style mission in 2009, only to be captured and held hostage by the Taliban for five years.

US troops spent 45 days on non-stop missions trying to find their missing soldier.

“It was hell on earth,” recalled Darryl Hanson, one of Bergdahl’s fellow platoon members who was one of hundreds of soldiers who endured sleepless nights, soiled undergarments, rotten socks and sores all over their bodies in the searches.

Morale sagged as the days went on, but anger was on the rise — as more and more soldiers felt increasingly hostility towards Bergdahl, who now claims he fled the US Army outpost to bring attention to leadership failures in the military.

“I think a lot of us would have shot him,” Hanson said. “I truly say that with all sincerity. We have that much hate for him.”

Their anger didn’t only stem from the gruelling conditions they were working under during the search effort — they were also putting their lives on the line daily.

Mike Waltz, a former Army Special Forces officer who ran multiple missions after Bergdahl went missing, said commanders would send troops out on a tip before they had time to vet the information.

Sgt. Bergdahl, right, stands with a Taliban fighter in eastern Afghanistan. Picture: AP

“There was just no time to check on it,” he said. “We just went. And I can’t overemphasise how dangerous that was.”

The second episode of the hit podcast has zeroed in on the Taliban’s side of the murky hostage drama, which centres around Bergdahl’s true motives for leaving his post and what exactly went on during his years in terrorist captivity. The now 29-year-old is facing life in prison for desertion in a US military court.

“A dead soldier was worth nothing, but he was captured alive,” one Taliban member, identified as Mujaheed Rahman, told Serial. “He was like a golden chicken.”

The Taliban considered Bergdahl a gift from God — and initially thought he was more than just a sergeant due to the massive search effort that was launched in the days following his disappearance.

When asked if Bergdahl was worth the dozen or more Taliban militants who were killed in raids by the army, Rahman said he thought he was “worth maybe 5,000 individuals.”

Terrorist cells worked hard to evade American troops desperately trying to find Bergdahl — using various code words to refer to their new prisoner, who they later referred to as their “guest,” as they smuggled him through the Afghani countryside.

“Hour by hour we were changing location. We were changing Bergdahl’s dress and we were changing our dress,” Rahman said, adding that they came in close contact with American ground forces numerous times.

Bergdahl says he fled his post to bring attention to US military failures.

He was just 23 when he was captured.

The Taliban made arrangements to get Bergdahl to one of their affiliates in Pakistan

But Bergdahl has refuted several claims made by the Taliban members — including that he was once taken to a winery to “boost his morale” and that he was welcomed to Pakistan by a traditional dance done by the terrorists.

Instead, he described his first moments in the Taliban’s custody — blindfolded and then covered with a blanket while he was slapped and had rocks thrown at him for being American.

He said he tried and failed to escape once but soon went into “survival mode.”

“Doesn’t matter how many Kung-fu movies you watch, doesn’t matter how long you’re a martial arts fighter,” Bergdahl said. “These people, they have no hesitation, they have no problem killing you. They will kill you just for the amusement of being able to shoot you.”